Child Marriage in Morocco: Laws, Rights and Society, Who Against Whom?

Abstract The marriage of minors, especially girls, is an alarming social phenomenon in Morocco. Despite legislative reforms setting the marriageable age at 18, child marriage persists in Morocco, taking advantage of an exception provided for in current legislation allowing family judges to authorise such unions on an exceptional basis. The exception has become the rule, and the judicial practice is rather lax when it comes to dealing with this issue, and is far from protecting children’s rights. But it seems that this laxity is merely a reflection of a societal position that is still conservative. The conclusion is that the issue of child marriage, and beyond its harmful consequences, is now the point of political discord between conservatives and modernists in Morocco. For some it is much more a religious issue than a social one. Religion is also source of legitimacy for the Moroccan political regime. Any reform of the rules of the family law, and even more of the marriage of minors, should consider these red lines.